1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to vehicle head lamp assemblies, and more particularly to vehicle head lamp assemblies having heat sinks.
2. Related Art
Light emitting diodes (LED) are becoming widely popular for use in vehicle lamp assemblies, such as head lamp assemblies. LED technology has increased in popularity due to their high levels of efficiency which result in power savings. However, for LED's to be effectively incorporated and used in lamp assemblies, the heat generated by their use needs to be removed during use, otherwise their light output suffers dramatically. Accordingly, it is known to couple a heat sink to an LED to remove the heat from the proximity of the LED in use. However, the heat sinks developed require additional components within the lamp assembly, which in turn increases cost of the lamp assembly. In addition, different platforms of lamps require the heat sinks to be configured differently from one another, thereby requiring inventory of multiple types of heat sinks. Accordingly, the cost of the lamp assemblies is further increased due to the need to inventory a wide variety of heat sink configurations. Further, the cost of lamp assembly is increased due to having additional components to assemble. As such, although heat sinks are known to enhance the effective light output and increase the useful life of LED lamp assemblies, the costs associated therewith come with a drawback.